Panasonic Business has stressed the importance of technology ahead of the introduction of new EU regulations on data protection.The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes enforceable from 25 May 2018 with the intention of strengthening and unifying data protection for all individuals within the EU. Sanctions for data breaches are as much as £20million or up to 4% of a company's annual worldwide turnover.

Practically, it strengthens the requirement for consent prior to any marketing contact for instance, and means that personal data cannot be transferred to countries outside the EEA, unless they guarantee the same level of data protection.

"It's the biggest challenge for marketing in my 26 year career," said Stephen Yeo, Panasonic Business Marketing Director. "As a result of GDPR, businesses need to consider where and how they process data - that's everything from names and addresses to security footage."

"We certainly believe that there are technological ways to mitigate some of the risks. An example is people masking technology for CCTV, which protects a person's identity and means the actual footage can only be viewed in the event of an incident, such as a theft.

"A further example is automatic data removal from a scanner. Inbuilt functionality that removes data from a machine once it's transferred to a PC, means that the data is automatically more secure."

In response to the changes in capturing and storing CCTV footage within public spaces, Panasonic offers security solutions that align with Articles 32 and 35 of GDPR. These prevent data theft and allow the public spaces to stay secured while complying with the data privacy.

"Networked devices such as CCTV have been identified as a potential weak spot for data breaches, so it's vital that organisations look at how this is mitigated as they plan for 25 May," added Stephen Yeo.